Disney World - Hollywood Studios

The next day Stef and Amy wanted to go the beach.  Diane, Melia, and I wanted to go to Hollywood Studios.  So, we split up, Stef and Amy dropped us off at the park and headed out for some time in the sun.

  

Getting ready for another fun day!

The Aerosmith Rockin' Roller Coaster was pretty great.

 The whole reason why I wanted to go to Hollywood Studios was so I could ride Tower of Terror - it is SO much better in Florida!  I love that ride!

Enjoying the stunt show.

Who needs Prince Charming when you have chocolate - definitely a theme for our trip!

The Little Mermaid show was so cool - most of the fish were puppets the were glow in the dark with black lights - it looked really awesome in person.

I was also really glad that we got to see Fantasmic - again - they do it right at Disney World, stadium seating instead of standing room only.  

Another great day at Disney World, we were so sad to leave!

Disney World Part II - EPCOT

Our second day we went to EPCOT center. 

 I had to get a shot of everyone trying to take a selfie when we first walked in!

Too bad our arms aren't long enough to get the ball and all of us in the picture!

We happened to be there during the food and wine festival - it was hard to choose what to eat for lunch and dinner there were so many great options!  For lunch, I finally decided to go with Moroccan!  It was delicious.

The drummers in Japan were amazing!

After making the rounds of the different countries we went on "Energy Adventures with Ellen" and I got stuck on my very first ride!  It was pretty cool for all the lights to go on and to see some of the behind the scenes stuff.  Then we all had to file out row by row and we got to go through the back exit.  

Coke has sponsored a fun area where you can go and try soda from about eight other countries.

Some were pretty gross, some were pretty good.  

Then it was back to the energy adventures to see if they had fixed it and we could finish what we started.  I was the only person without a smart phone so I was feeling a little left while we were waiting for them to open the ride again.  

We went back to the different countries for dinner.  I ended up getting some yummy German food.  

EPCOT is so beautiful at night with the ball all lit up.

The fireworks show was amazing.  I loved the images they projected on the ball.

Disney World Part I

In October my friends invited me to crash their roommate party to Disney World!  Three of us flew in early and got the car, checked in to our condo, and got some groceries. 

This was the awesome sunset we had to welcome us when we first got to Orlando.

Later that night we went back to the airport and picked up our other friends who had to work and were on a later flight. 

We had a guest to welcome us to our condo our first night there!

 Our first day we went to Universal studios so we could go to Harry Potter world.  

What an amazing place! It was so cool to feel like you were actually at Hogwarts and in the town.

I love all the little details - like the witch outside the women's bathroom!

And the actual costumes worn in the movies.

My first taste of butterbeer!

 After going on all the rides in Harry Potter world, and getting our butterbeers, we were off to explore the rest of Universal Studios.  It was super hot - so we found a water ride and got SOAKED!!  I was so happy!

 

They even have people dryers outside the ride - I didn't use it - I was glad to be a little cooled off.

The only really busy part of the park was Harry Potter World, the rest of the park was pretty dead and we were able to walk on most of the rides - I had to take a picture of the empty ride in Dr. Seuss land. 

 Thing 1, Thing 2, and the Cat in the Hat

 We took a little ride on the Star Bellied Sneetches train.

Then we headed back to the Three Broomsticks for dinner - fish and chips and more butterbeer - a perfect meal! 

It was fun to see all the little shops in Hogsmeade lit up at night.  

 

Our condo had a HUGE jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom. 

We were all too tired to go down to the hot tub, so we soaked our feet in the jacuzzi and had an early night so we could be up early for our next adventure.

More Random Fun

We love it when Alla and Asher and their family come to town and we get to visit with them!  

Pavel loved climbing all over Dan.

Both Pavel and Anastasia were enthralled with Ferguson - at one point they were both laying on the floor around his food dishes watching him eat and drink. 

He is such a patient dog - especially around kids.

 Lauren wanted to get tacos from the taco truck and go up to the canyons for her birthday dinner.  
We were trying some new way to cook s'mores and they were SO messy!



Dan can't stand getting sticky and he had it ALL over!  Good thing we had some ice we could melt so he could clean it off a little! I think Grandma was the least messy of all of us!

 

Ferguson HATE the campfire and smoke - he was pretty upset with us for dragging him up the canyon.

After 5 years of HATING my countertops - I finally took the plunge and got new granite countertops - but first we had to get rid of the old yucky tile!

Good thing I have some great siblings who are willing to help me out with the hard jobs!

I LOVE the fall in Park City. We got a condo in Park City over UEA and enjoyed the beautiful fall colors.

No trip to Park City is complete without a ride on the Alpine Slide and the Coaster!

Then we walked over to Mom's favorite place in Park City, the old cemetery.  

 

 It was the perfect start to a pretty great Fall season!